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Fund lawyers for families at inquests into police shootings: Editorial

The government funds fees for lawyers representing police officers, but not for the families of victims of police shootings. That must change.

Joanne MacIsaac, whose brother was shot and killed by Durham police in 2013, wants to know why the government doesn't fund lawyers for families of police shooting victims at inquests. (Rene Johnston / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

By Star Editorial Board

Fri., July 7, 2017

On the morning of Dec. 2, 2013, Michael MacIsaac was shot by Durham police Const. Brian Taylor in north Ajax.

He had been running through his quiet neighbourhood stark naked. And according to Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, he was holding a table leg when confronted by police. Tragically, he died later in hospital.

The SIU cleared Taylor of criminal wrongdoing.

But MacIsaac’s family, who believe the 47-year-old man left his house naked that day after having an epileptic seizure, dispute the watchdog’s findings.

And at an inquest on July 17, their lawyers will finally be able to challenge the SIU report and, most importantly, shine a spotlight on whether Michael MacIsaac’s death could have been prevented.

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That’s something that should occur at all inquests into police shootings. But it doesn’t.

Under normal circumstances there are no lawyers present to represent the families of people killed by police. That’s because while lawyers are hired to represent police officers at public expense, there is no funding for lawyers to represent the victim’s family. The only exception is for cases in which a police officer has been criminally charged in the shooting — something so rare as to be almost unheard-of.

That creates a stark imbalance at the inquest. Why, after all, would lawyers for police officers ask questions that challenge the SIU’s findings or their clients’ testimony?

Without families being represented, there is no “counterbalance” to the police view, points out lawyer Peter Rosenthal, who has represented many families at police shooting inquests and will be one of the lawyers representing the MacIsaac family.

At the same time, that one-sidedness does not help juries come to conclusions and make recommendations about how to prevent future police shootings, something vitally important for public safety that should be done without question in a democracy. We are not, after all, living in a police state.

Indeed, lawyers will be representing the MacIsaacs only because the family has raised $12,000 so far for legal fees through a GoFundMe page.

That onus on the family has to change. In fact, hearing their viewpoints through their lawyers is so important that it was among 129 recommendations made to the province this past spring by Justice Michael Tulloch in his review of Ontario’s police oversight bodies (including the SIU).

“Without legal assistance or representation, they may not ask the right questions, know what arguments to make when issues arise, or understand how the inquest procedures work,” he wrote of the families.

The province will only say that Tulloch’s recommendation is under review, although it immediately acted on some of his other recommendations.

So why would the government appear to be so committed to funding a system that isn’t designed to challenge the SIU or police officers?

It’s in everyone’s interests, including that of police officers, for juries to hear evidence from all points of view. Only then can they make the recommendations that are so important to preventing future police shooting deaths.

The provincial government should immediately follow up on Tulloch’s recommendation and fund lawyers’ fees for the family of any person killed by police.

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